Get Hyped

Whats that you say? You want some more character design screen shots from DAMNIT! BILL. Stay tuned.. Moving Box is overly excited about releasing a new cartoon!

Dammit Bill

A quick screen shot from an upcoming short cartoon by Moving Box Studios Dammit Bill Stay tuned =)

This is what I'm doing tonight

Eye surgery, not sugary. JavaShow.tv [coming soon]

Maddie run cycle

Here’s a run cycle for Maddie, one of the stars of the upcoming cartoon Java, hot off the scanner!

Cycle by Emily Benning. Music by Ayurveda.

The Ultimate Warrior VS Stormtroopers

We did it. MCDeathBear and I completed this little ditty in about two weeks. It’s all your childhood fantasies in the way you always wanted them. That’s right, The Ultimate Warrior from from WWF battling Star Wars Stormtroopers. You’re a nerd right? You get this kind of stuff.

I should warn you, it does include some Gratuitous Violence.

Here’s the video on YouTube:

Recording sound in the recording studio

Working last week

Working on Warrior

MC Death Bear and Chris “DJ Name” Davidson working on The Ultimate Warrior VS Stormtroopers. Woo fun late night animation session.

We’ve submitted the Olympus Burger pilot to Adult Swim!

Today, we mailed the Olympus Burger pilot episode and bible to the late-night Cartoon Network block, Adult Swim! Getting onto Adult Swim has been our goal for Olympus Burger since the beginning (which was almost four years ago) so we’re keeping our fingers and everything else crossed.

This picture was taken six minutes before the post office closed, but Chris* turned into The Flash and got it there just in time. He was locked in the post office for a couple minutes afterwards, but then he turned into the Hulk and…asked the lady at the desk to let him out.

Unless the mail gnomes get at it, the package will arrive in Adult Swim’s submission box tomorrow. We’ll put up another post when we hear from them, so check back soon!

*Even though that little sign says “Connor,” that’s Chris. Trust me.

Behind the Scenes: Interns!

Hello, world.

This is Steve, a current all-purpose animation intern at Moving Box Studios. My creative director Chris Davidson wants to give you all some insight into what us interns actually do (i.e. not watch cartoons all day), so here’s some insider info.

I had my hands on the pilot episode of Java, correcting colors and whatnot. Java refused to “pop” against the background in his drab duds. We can’t have our title character blending into the background, so I created a bunch of alternative palettes. I consulted with Chris on what the final color choice should be, and after picking it, I went to town in Adobe Flash changing each instance of Java to the new palette by Cmd + I’ing and Cmd + K’ing everything into submission. Repetitive? Eh, maybe, but it seriously helps develop an eye for color, attention to detail, and, well, using Flash in general. Java will be coming to your screen this summer… so I better hop to it.

That’s all for now. Cheers!

Update 4/20/09

Here’s some more content to make you drool – it’s a short animation titled “Meet Java!” where you’ll “meet” Java, Heidi, and Maddie – the three main characters from the upcoming series created by Danielle Chillemi, Java!

Watch it on Newgrounds too, and remember to vote 5!

The Java pilot episode is coming out this summer, so stay tuned.

Coming Oh-So Soon: Purgatory Pizza

The flash version of Purgatory Pizza is coming soon!
Creator Christian Taranto, AKA MC Death Bear, took a twelve-hour bus ride from Virginia up to our studio last Friday, and he’s been working non-stop since he arrived.

Talk about dedication! But what would you expect from a guy who’s almost finished with a concept he started in ninth grade? That’s right, Purgatory Pizza was first conceptualized when Christian was a freshman in high school. Back then, it was a comic strip. It’s gone through many revision since then. At the beginning, it was known as “Outcasts,” and there wasn’t even a pizza place! But over the years, he’s worked at several pizza places, so he eventually decided to put his work experience to good use (or bad, who knows? It’s Purgatory).

Now at 22, Christian’s thrilled to see his teenage doodles come to life in magnificent moving media magic, not to mention that he’s at the helm of it all. But Christian isn’t the only one working. Chris Davidson’s been leading the animation, and he and Jeff Hellman have been hard at work on the sound design.

In fact, it was because of Chris Davidson that Purgatory Pizza got started on the road to cartoon-dom. Back in December 2007, Christian had an art show at Pixel Lounge. During the show, he mentioned how he had an idea for a cartoon and wanted to make it, and he was referred to Moving Box Studios by local DJ Chris Capulet. Christian had always be interested in animation, but he never got the chance until he and Chris teamed up.

Just like The Elephant’s Lullaby, Moving Box will be putting together a “making of” video for Purgatory Pizza. It’ll include commentary from those already mentioned, plus Christian’s cousin Law Tarello, the co-writer of the cartoon. Law will be arriving at the studio this Saturday to share his thoughts.

We’re in the final pruduction stage of the final cut, but if you need something to do before Purgatory Pizza is released, head to SickDamage.com where Christian is a staff writer. No kidding, Christian isn’t just an artist and budding animator; he’s a talented writer as well.

Need something else? Get a Purgatory Pizza refresher – watch the teaser for the cartoon on Newgrounds.